Illustrated History of Furniture eBook

Chapter II.

The Middle Ages.

Period of 1000 years from Fall of Rome,
A.D. 476, to Capture of Constantinople, 1453—­the
Crusades—­Influence of Christianity—­Chairs
of St. Peter and Maximian at Rome, Ravenna and Venice—­Edict
of Leo III. prohibiting Image worship—­the
Rise of Venice—­Charlemagne and his successors—­the
Chair of Dagobert—­Byzantine character of
Furniture—­Norwegian carving—­Russian
and Scandinavian—­the Anglo-Saxons—­Sir
Walter Scott quoted—­Descriptions of Anglo-Saxon
Houses and Customs—­Art in Flemish Cities—­Gothic
Architecture—­the Coronation Chair at
Westminster Abbey—­Penshurst—­French
Furniture in the 14th Century—­Description
of rooms—­the South Kensington Museum—­Transition
from Gothic to Renaissance—­German carved
work: the Credence, the Buffet, and Dressoir.

[Illustration]

The history of furniture is so thoroughly a part of
the history of the manners and customs of different
peoples, that one can only understand and appreciate
the several changes in style, sometimes gradual and
sometimes rapid, by reference to certain historical
events and influences by which such changes were effected.

Thus, we have during the space of time known as the
Middle Ages, a stretch of some 1,000 years, dating
from the fall of Rome itself, in A.D. 476, to the
capture of Constantinople by the Turks under Mahomet
II. in 1453, an historical panorama of striking incidents
and great social changes bearing upon our subject.
It was a turbulent and violent period, which saw the
completion of Rome’s downfall, the rise of the
Carlovingian family, the subjection of Britain by
the Saxons, the Danes, and the Normans; the extraordinary
career and fortunes of Mahomet; the conquest of Spain
and a great part of Africa by the Moors; and the Crusades,
which, for a common cause, united the swords and spears
of friend and foe.

It was the age of monasteries and convents, of religious
persecutions and of heroic struggles of the Christian
Church. It was the age of feudalism, chivalry,
and war; but, towards the close, a time of comparative
civilisation and progress, of darkness giving way to
the light which followed; the night of the Middle
Ages preceding the dawn of the Renaissance.

With the growing importance of Constantinople, the
capital of the Eastern Empire, families of well-to-do
citizens flocked thither from other parts, bringing
with them all their most valuable possessions; and
the houses of the great became rich in ornamental
furniture, the style of which was a mixture of Eastern
and Roman: that is, a corruption of the Early
Classic Greek developing into the style known as Byzantine.
The influence of Christianity upon the position of
women materially affected the customs and habits of
the people. Ladies were allowed to be seen in
chariots and open carriages, the designs of which,